Days after he made clear his opposition to Narendra Modi being named the BJP’s 2014 prime ministerial candidate, veteran leader L K Advani sprang a surprise on Monday by publicly praising the Gujarat chief minister for his good work.

At the same time, Advani also had good things to say about the work done by BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Although the former deputy prime minister was expected to speak about the electrification plans of the Raman Singh government, he ended up commending Gujarat’s achievements in the power sector under Modi. He also sought to take pride in the fact that he represented Modi’s state in Parliament.

“Today, if he has been entrusted with the responsibility of the country by my party BJP, then all the good tasks undertaken by our governments in various states would be carried out all over the country,” Advani told reporters after the speech. Referring to Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the same breath, Advani praised the Gujarat chief minister for being the first in providing electricity to all villages in his state, a task which has now been accomplished by Chouhan.

“It was Narendra Modi who did this task first of providing electricity to all villages of the state,” Advani said. “Shivraj Singh Chouhan pledged to provide electricity to every village in the state. He first provided electricity in three districts. He has now completed this task. If someone who did this